I cannot keep silent. On Saturday, I packed my body between thousands of others in Chicago to try and channel my frustrations, fears, and floundering thoughts into a forthright cry of united feminism, but my flickering hope dimmed when I walked away and became a single being once more.
On Sunday, the weather was cooler, the sky was grayer, and my mood was more dreary. I faced critiques from friends, contesting messages on Facebook, and harassing males on my evening run.
The juxtaposition of my weekend, much like the whole election season prior to now, has been a rollercoaster, with jolting elations, drooping depressions, feeble optimism, and fading energy. In the wake of all of this, I’ve vowed to muster the strength, confidence and focus to write about both the highs and the lows of the recent Women’s March. Through doing this, I hope to break my own hesitations about speaking up and thoughtfully continue the conversation started in the streets on Saturday.
So here’s what I see as exciting and concurrently daunting…
The Wins:
It was massive. With 673 events around the world and approximately 4 million attendees in the United States, the march proved people are capable of coming together peacefully to proclaim their shared interests in preserving and furthering women’s rights and human rights as a whole, recognizing the importance of defending the most marginalized for society’s sake.
It raised an array of key issues. The messages broadcasted via posters, speeches, apparel and chants covered goals such as dismantling gender and racial inequalities; increasing climate change awareness; and enhancing reproductive, LGBTQ, immigrant, and refugee rights.
While the points that were raised covered a broad scope, looking out across the sea of participants, there was clear uniformity present in the pink pussyhats that many wore to make a strong visual statement about reclaiming the derogatory genitalia term used against females in an empowering handmade display.
It was cognizant of diversity. Despite it’s white beginning, the rapidly growing movement quickly incorporated young women of color through positions of leadership and conversations about race were present. Beyond race and gender, the march derived from a common fear and inflicted pain felt from the political rhetoric targeting immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQIA, Native Americans, people with disabilities, and survivors of sexual assault. As part of their mission statement, the organizers wrote, “We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities.”
Culminating all these big wins with the many minute moments of unity that occurred, I am proud that I took part in a historical protest that sparked conversation and awareness.
However, following the flood of elation that washed over me Saturday, I cannot help but notice the damp, muddy remains of my submersion in the cause. And with that being said, I cannot complete this post without addressing what wasn’t said and what needs to be done…
Work Remaining
We need to listen and embrace alternative ideologies. The march acknowledged diversity. And nuanced discussions about identity were raised, but in sum, the event was not a perfect depiction of intersectional feminism. Chi Nguyen wrote about the hypocrisy of white women she encountered who showed impatience and disrespect towards African Americans, Asians, and handicapped females. Telesur stated the Vancouver sister-march excluded the local chapter of Black Lives Matter. And Stephanie Dolce distinguished that she did not support the Women’s March because it was not open to alternative ideologies and it did not acknowledge the power of the American female or pay tribute to critical international problems other women face.
The perspectives of the oppressed and the opposing must be prioritized!
If the Women’s March is to live up to it’s mission, it cannot discount any voices. We need to learn from those who have been fearful and fighting all their lives and we need to engage in dialogue with republicans, men and the 53% of white women who voted for Trump — identifying our similarities and better understanding our differences.
We need to remain issue focused and be exemplars of what we demand. In order to ensure we foster unity rather than drive further divides, we should strive to vocalize issues of importance over individuals of distaste. It is understandable how the infuriated incorporated anti-Trump slogans and sayings, but the impact of this approach must be acknowledged. By bashing Trump, a divisive line was drawn that excluded individuals who voted for him from entering the space to speak out. Perhaps it was difficult to make this distinction in a march purposefully planned right after Trump’s inauguration, but it is an awareness to uphold moving forward.
To quote the march organizers third guiding principle, “Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil.” If we are to expect our president to address problems and to not mock people, we need to lead by example and refrain from ridiculing his image as revenge.
We need to be equally critical of ourselves and others. As we heighten our critique of potentially potent political figures, we must continually examine our own stance and not only diligently deconstruct the messages of those we oppose, but also those we naturally align with. CNN’s predominantly male coverage of the march quickly garnered attention, but the interaction between NBC’s host Chuck Todd and Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway was not looked at with a critical gender lens, dismissing aggressive communication Todd may have demonstrated to the ‘alternative facts’ statement Conway made. This example is not intended to diminish the dangers of Conway’s rhetoric, but to illustrate how we can so easily alter how we interpret the media based on our own biases and priorities.
We need to maintain the momentum with action. Fellow Chicagoan, Jennifer Friedmann, writes in her post about the lack of direct requests at the march on Saturday and proposes concrete steps to take now that the big day has passed.
Following prior protests such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, the same warning about cultivating sustained impact applies to the Women’s March, which does not seem passive at this point with “10 Actions 100 Days” now titling their home page.
Mashable has also shared 4 sites to take action and Jennifer Hoffmann has created an Action Checklist for Americans of Conscience using a simple Google Doc. In Chicago, there has been a local Women’s March Facebook group created with ongoing dialogue and planned events.
While we may be weary from the language thrown about by political figures of power; we must catalyze our words into actions of protection, empowerment and peace.
I hope you’ll join me in staying informed, engaged, hopeful and bold to trump the testing times that are yet to come.
Originally posted on Medium: https://medium.com/@kelseylgreene/womens-march-wins-and-work-remaining-dc85bf8d9bf7
